New pollen measurement season begins in Zenica and ZDK

ZENICA, (Patria) - A team from the Institute for Health and Food Safety Zenica has begun a new season of monitoring and measuring pollen in the Zenica-Doboj Canton, which will last from February to November this year.

Last year, the most modern pollen and spore sampler from a European manufacturer (Lanzoni, Italy) was procured and installed, and pollen monitoring for the Zenica-Doboj Canton began. Such an activity has not been carried out in this region to date.

- This involves the volumetric method of pollen sampling, which is currently the only recognized method in aerobiology and is used according to the recommendations of EAACI (European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology). The principle is that the sampler draws in a precisely known amount of air (10 L/min.), and with the air, pollen and spore particles. This allows the results to be expressed as the concentration of pollen or spores per unit volume of air. The presence and concentration of pollen from plant species that are subject to observation and whose pollen causes allergic reactions in the population of the Zenica-Doboj Canton, along with recommendations, have been regularly available to visitors of the Institute's official website from May 28 to November 03 last year through weekly reports, states Kasim Velić, head of the Plant Protection Department at the Institute.

The period from November last year to the beginning of February is the dormant season for vegetation when there is no pollination or release of pollen into the lower layers of the atmosphere, and thus no measurement or sampling.

From February 1, the pollen and spore sampler is back in operation at the location in the center of Zenica, at the recommended height of 15 meters, and in the coming period, through weekly reports, the population of the Zenica-Doboj Canton will be regularly informed by the Institute's experts about the presence and concentration of pollen in the air, as well as measures and recommendations they should take for protection against pollen allergies.

All plant species that release pollen, especially those whose pollen has allergenic properties, can be divided into three groups.

The first group includes woody plant species that release pollen from late January to early May according to the pollen calendar and are present throughout the Zenica-Doboj Canton, mostly in the hilly and mountainous areas, as well as along river courses.

This group includes plant species from the genera fir, maple, horse chestnut, alder, birch, hornbeam, common chestnut, hazel, beech, ash, walnut, spruce, fir, pine, plane tree, poplar, oak, willow, elder, yew, cypress, linden, and elm.

The second group includes herbaceous plants, among which are those from the grass family whose pollen is present according to the pollen calendar from late April to mid-September and are present throughout the Zenica-Doboj Canton regardless of altitude, while the third group includes herbaceous weeds with summer-autumn pollen release.

The weed group consists of a small number of plants, but with very dangerous pollen, which causes allergic reactions even at low concentrations in the air.

Although pollen grains constitute only a small fraction of the total number of particles in the atmosphere, they are among the most common causes of allergic respiratory diseases and represent one of the most potent natural allergens today. Less than 100 out of a total of 250,000 pollen species cause allergic reactions.

The amount of pollen in the environment depends on the geographical distribution of individual plant species. For example, many grass species are widespread in all climatic zones, and allergies to these plants are significantly prevalent.

On the other hand, birch, whose pollen has exceptional allergological potential, is a plant of northern and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, so outside these areas, allergies to this type of pollen are negligible or non-existent. In agricultural areas where large areas are planted with cereals belonging to the Cereale family, the incidence of allergies to pollen from species in this family is also significant.

The pollination method is a very significant factor in the distribution of pollen in the air. Wind-pollinated plant pollen will be present in the air in significant concentrations, while insect-pollinated plant pollen will hardly appear in the air or will have negligible concentrations.

The size and structure of pollen grains are two parameters that determine the duration and distance of wind transport, as well as the depth of entry into the respiratory system.

After processing the data, i.e., identifying pollen and spore species and calculating their concentration per cubic meter of air, the expert team will regularly inform and provide recommendations to the pollen-allergic population through announcements on the Institute's website.